► Black-Tie Fashion

The eHow web site has an helpful
article
on women's black-tie attire containing practical
suggestions on choosing styles, cuts, materials and colors.

X (Not So) Well Suited:X Matching Couples

Black-tie affairs are grownup affairs. As a girl it may
have been quaint to coordinate your boyfriend's outfit with your
dress color but as a lady you should leave the role of matching
accessory to your handbag, not your husband.

Ladies' Evening Wear

Men’s evening wear may play
a starring role in enhancing its wearer but its role in enhancing a
special occasion is very much a supporting one. Echoing a romantic chivalry of days gone by, the
black-and-white uniform is deliberately designed to act as an
unassuming backdrop for the radiant couture and sensuous décolletage
displayed by guests of the fairer sex.

White Tie

As society’s most formal
dress code, White Tie maintains relatively strict requirements for
feminine attire. In the
United States, Emily Post's Etiquette says simply that women should
wear a “formal evening gown” while Letitia Baldrige's New Manners
for New Times recommends “a full-skirted ballgown, lots of jewelry
but never too much, fur wrap, long white gloves.”

Debrett’s, the UK’s most
definitive source of social protocol, says in its New Guide to
Etiquette and Modern Manners that “Women wear long, formal evening
dresses. Short frocks,
no matter how glamorous, are not acceptable and trousers should not
even be considered. These rules are particularly strictly adhered to in Scotland.”If the evening is to include rigorous dancing the book
advises against strapless dresses, big jewellery and unrestrained
long hair and suggests comfortable shoes. Evening gloves remain correct although they are rarely used
by young women and “are no longer compulsory” according to the
Debrett's online etiquette guide.

Black tie

When it comes to black-tie
attire, the Debrett’s book notes that for women this dress code
today “is infinitely more complicated, as its presence on a card can
signify any level of dress, ranging from a little lycra number to
just sub-white-tie levels of splendour. The old clearly
defined distinctions between dinner and dance dresses have largely
disappeared and their place has been taken merely by confusion.”The book’s subsequent advice is equally applicable on either
side of the Atlantic:

Thus it is important to
ascertain from the hostess what dress she is expecting. Good
hostesses could follow the lead of a well-known duchess, who sends a
written invitation to friends that includes a few short lines
dispelling any dress confusion: 'Saturday night is black tie, but
palazzo pants will be absolutely fine.’

The invitation itself will
also give clues. A simple drinks party from 6:30 to 8:30 will
require only a little black dress, while a more lavish affair to
celebrate someone’s twenty-first, which consists of drinks, dinner
and dancing, needs a much grander dress. As an inveterate
party-going friend says: ‘The greater the effort of the hostess, the
greater the level of formality expected of the guest.’

The choice of long or short
dress can also be vexing. Traditionally long is more formal
than short, but these distinctions are fast disappearing . . .
The choice today is largely based on what suits the wearer, her legs
and her relative age. Long is the preferred comfortable option
of older women, while young girls invariably feel more suited to
short. However, a long dress or skirt remains the safest
option for all, as it is always special, and appropriate to any
black tie event grander than a cocktail party. Best jewels,
with plenty of sparklers, can be worn, but obviously tiaras are
inappropriate.

Online, the Debrett’s
experts add that the dress need not be black and if it is short it
must not be “too short”.

Stateside etiquette
authorities provide much less specific guidelines. Emily Post's Etiquette dictates only a "formal evening dress
or short, dressy cocktail dress” although it also notably limits the
appropriateness of dressy separates to Black Tie Optional affairs. Letitia Baldrige's
book offers a moderately more
detailed prescription: